Two guilty of wildlife crime at Loch Earn

Two men have been convicted for wildlife crime offences and breaches of camping byelaws within the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park and Forestry Commission.

At Stirling Justice of the Peace Court on Monday April 9, Adam Russell was fined £300 and Dale Snedden was fined £350 for the possession of Atlantic salmon eggs and camping without authorisation.

The pair were identified through Operation Ironworks after committing the offences on the south shore of Loch Earn, on April 30, 2017.

Both men were found fishing in possession of a jar of bait, which was seized and sent for analysis by the Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture laboratory. It was then confirmed this bait was made from the eggs of Atlantic salmon.

Snedden, 45, pleaded guilty to camping without authorisation and also to possession of the salmon eggs under Section 9 of The Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 2003.

Russell, 51, also admitted camping without authorisation under the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park camping management byelaws 2017, as well as drugs possession, having being caught with a personal quantity of cannabis at the time of the incident.